News
| May 27, 2014

Just In Time For Summer Verizon Location Data Services Makes Connecting With Customers Easy

Financial Services, Retail, Hospitality Industries to Benefit

Summertime is nearly here, which for many means vacation season, outdoor events and leisurely shopping trips - all great venues for connecting with customers via their mobile devices to create more meaningful relationships that are not simply transactional. With this in mind, Verizon Enterprise Solutions has recently introduced a location-based service that will allow organizations to offer valuable real-time benefits to their customers, such as proximity-based specials and fraud detection. Verizon Location Data Services, powered by Locaid, is available now to enterprise clients in the U.S.

I spoke with Vishy Ganti, managing principal of vertical markets with Verizon Enterprise Solutions who commented that, "Location-based services are part of the next mobile wave and we are working with our enterprise clients across a number of industries such as retail, financial services and hospitality to be at the forefront of this trend. Consumers are looking for more value-added services from the brands they trust the most, particularly services that can be delivered in real-time to their mobile devices. Locaid is a pioneer in this field and teaming up with them is a win-win proposition for our clients."

Why Locaid?
Locaid, based in San Francisco, California, operates a secure, privacy-protected platform which aggregates the mobile location data of more than 360 million subscriber-approved devices in cooperation with top-tier wireless providers, including Verizon Wireless. Locaid works with mobile operators to determine the proximity of a mobile device within 50 meters of its precise location. Using cellular network location, as opposed to GPS (Global Positioning System) technology, enables more wireless devices to be located indoors and in densely-populated areas where GPS signals are typically not as strong.

How It Works
To enjoy the subscriber benefits of Verizon Location Data Services, which can include special offers from merchants or fraud detection, consumers must first opt-in to participate through a stringent verification process before mobile carriers can share a registered device's location information.

Ganti added, "Maintaining our client's privacy is our top priority and we will only disclose a subscriber's mobile device number with their express permission. Verizon brings years of experience in managing location-based services, including working with our enterprise clients to develop and implement secure opt-in initiatives for safeguarding the privacy of their customers."

I also spoke with James Wester, senior analyst with IDC Financial Insights, who noted, "Enterprises across a host of industries are beginning to adopt location-based services for fostering ongoing relationships with customers that are not merely transactional. In the financial services industry, we are seeing an uptick in adoption by card processors for fraud prevention, and for protecting mobile banking and mobile point-of-sale transactions."